1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of graphical user interfaces and in particular, to user interfaces for the configuration of computer peripherals.
2. Description of Related Art
Computer peripherals such as document scanners, printers, and multi-function devices have been used for some time now to facilitate conversion of physical documents into electronic form and vice-versa. For example, a physical document may be scanned and stored in electronic form on a computer. The scanned document is represented, at least initially, as an image comprising of a sequence of pixels. The information contained in each pixel is dependent on the granularity of the scan, which, in turn, depends on the resolution of the scanner. Scanner settings are typically controllable, thus the granularity of a scan may be adjusted until a user is satisfied with the scanned image. In addition to image resolution, users may also specify the format in which a scanned image is captured and stored. For example, a user could specify that an image be scanned as a Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) image, a Tagged Image File Format (TIFF) image, or several other image formats. Users must often also specify color settings, document sizes, document input trays, and a host of other scan parameters before a document can be scanned. Thus, programs that control peripheral devices generally provide a user-interface to control settings on the device. Peripheral devices may also have a default setting so that they are immediately available for use after being turned on. However, if a user wishes to change any of the parameters, or device settings then interaction with multiple device control programs and user-interfaces may be required. Users may be thwarted from configuring devices optimally because of the assortment of settings and options available with peripheral devices, and on account of the multiplicity of control programs needed to effect settings on each device.
A simple, intuitive, and uniform interface to configure peripheral devices would allow users to more effectively utilize the diversity of features available on contemporary peripheral devices.